CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The St. Baldrick season of shaving heads to raise money for child cancer research kicked off this morning with an event at the University of Illinois Hospital on the Near West Side.
“I feel a breeze. Nah, it feels good. Did something good so, I’m happy,” said 2 Kenny Do, 27, who works in the cancer pathology lab at UI Health looking at cancer cells.
Do was the first to go under the razor to have his head shaved for charity at Friday’s event. He raised a nearly $300.
“I did something similar like this in college," he said. "I haven’t done anything like that since. It’s been a couple of years, I’m like, why not? The opportunity came up, go ahead and do it."
Dr. Mary Lou Schmidt, head of pediatric oncology at UI Health and principal investigator for the shared UIC-Rush-Stroger Children’s Oncology Clinical Trials Program, said St. Baldrick’s fundraising events are important so clinical trials like hers can continue to help cure children who have cancer.
“We’ve made tremendous progress over the last 50 years, but we’re not at 100%," she explained. "About 15% or so of children won’t make it and some children need multiple courses of therapy.”
Dr. Dani Peterson, a pediatric resident at the University of Illinois Hospital said she was a little nervous to sit down to get her long locks cut and her head shaved. She also said she’s always thought about doing a St. Baldrick’s event, but chickened out at one in medical school.
“I think it’s really important," she added.
"Over my only three years as a pediatrician, I’ve taken care of kids who have survived cancer and others that haven’t, so I think it’s really important to be able to do something to help-hopefully eventually, find a cure so that we don’t have to lose kids early ages.”
UI Health employee Olga Salgado said she convinced her four-and-a-half year old daughter to have her flowing long hair cut off for charity.
“I let her know there was a little girl that had no hair that needed hair and I said, ‘Is it okay we give her, donate your hair to her?’ She said, ‘Yes.’ I’d rather donate the hair than let it go to waste.”
The fundraising goal for the University of Illinois Hospital St. Baldrick’s event was $15,000 dollars.
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